Cleaning device for acetylene gas burners



March 4, 1941.

J. E. WILLIAMS CLEANING DEVICE FOR ACETYLENE GAS BURNERS Filed March l5, 1940 NVENTOR `,/of//v i MMM/W5 ATTORNEY Patented Mar.. fi, lftl sri-iras CLEANING DEVICE FOR ACETYLENE GAS BURNERS John E. Wiliiams, Boulder, Colo.

Application March l5, 1940, Serial No. 324,11@

d Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in acetylene gas burners and has reference more particularly to means for conveniently cleaning .the burner tips used with miners lamps oi the type that burn acetylene gas generated in the lamp by the application of water to carbide.

Acetylene lamps are used very extensively by miners and are of such size `that they can be conveniently attached to a miners cap.

It has been found .that acetylene gas wherever employed for the purpose of illumination, leaves soot a-t the burner tip and the accumulation of soot becomes sufficient in a short time to stop the ow of gas, thereby extinguishing the flame.

- When the burner gets clogged, due t soot, it becomes necessary to ope-n the same and for this purpose it has been customary to employ a needle or pin of the proper size to fill the opening and to insert such needle or pin into the burner tip from the outside. After the flame has been extinguished, it becomes dark where the miner is working and it is obvious that it is diiiicul-t for him to insert a cleaning needle into the small orice opening in the absence of light, and therefore the cleaning of such clogged openings has heretofore required Considerable time and eiort.

It is the object of this invention to produce a gas burner that can be employed in any place in connection with the burning ci acetylene gas and which shall be provided with means built into the burner by which lthe orifice opening can be quickiy and conveniently cleaned when it becomes clogged with soot.

Another object of this invention is to produce a cleaner that does not require any special skill or eiort Ion the part oi the operator and which can be operated as well in the dark as in strong light.

A `further object of the invention is to produce a cleaner that shall have means for quickly and completely closing the auxiliary outlet provided for the cleaner operating device.

The above and other objects which may become apparent as this description proceeds are attained by means of a construction and an arrangement of parts that will now be described in detail and for this purpose reference will be had to the accompanying drawing, in which the invention has been illustrated in its present preferred form, and in which: i

Figure 1 is a vertical diametrical section Ithrough a miners lamp and through the improved burner;

Figure 2 is a section taken on line 2-2, Figule l; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the burner construction shown in Figure l, but to an enlarged scale.

In the drawing reference num-eral i designates a can for the reception of calcium carbide which (CI. ISS-126) has been designated by reference numeral 5. The can sho-wn has a threaded neck 6 of somewhat smaller diameter than the body of the can and extending across the lower end of the neck is a screen 'I on which is supported lter material 8. The water for the generati-on of the acetylene and which has been designated by reference numeral t, is contained in la cylindrical can iii that is provided with :a downwardly eX- tending threaded flange H that is threadedly connected with the neck 6. A rubber gasket I2 is positioned between the inclined lower edge I3 of -ilange il so as to form a seal. The bottom or container lil is provided with an opening from which a tube id extends downwardly to within a short distance of the bottom of the carbide can. The lower end of this tube is tapered as indicated at I and is provided with a small opening at its lowermost point. The purpose of this tube is to conduct liquid from the container ill to the carbide. In order to control the amount of liquid, a valve stem l5 has been provided at the upper end. This stern has an enlarged threaded portion I 'I that eng-agesV threads in the tube I3 which extends downwardly from the top of the water container. A handle I9 is nonrotatably attached to the upper end of the threaded portion Il and is bent so that its end 2d engages the upper surface .of the container top with suicient pressure to hold the valve in adjusted position. When the valve stem is rotated in one direction, its lowermos-t point will approach the water outlet opening and when it is rotated in the opposite direction it will be removed therefrom and in this way the iow of water can be very accurately controlled. The water container is provided with a` ll opening 2i that is closed by means of a removable cap 22. A handle 23 is soldered or otherwise attached to the container Ill and this serves as means for attaching the lamp to a. miners ycap and `also for holding it in the hand. A reflector 2d is attached .to the outer surface of the can I@ and Iat the center point of this reector a gas orice tip or burner 25 is positioned.

The burner, which comprises the improvements to which this invention relates, is formed from a metal body 26 which may be made from any suitable material, such `as copper or brass. This metal body has been illustrated as of rectangular cross section, Abut it is evident that the exact shape of the exterior is immaterial so far as this invention is concerned.

In the present construction the metal body has been shown as formed with two spaced inwardly extending circular openings 2l and 28. The material between these openings has been eut away so as to form a guide channel 29 with parallel walls. Positioned in the burner is a crosshead 3Q, Whose ends are of circular shape and are connected by a straight portion. It will be seen from Figures 1 and 3 that the body member of the burner is provided with an outwardly extending projection 3|, whose inner surface is threaded for the reception of the threaded inner end of the burner tip or orice member 25. The orifice member has a small orice or opening 32, through which the gas emerges during operation. The body member of the burner is also provided with a tubular projection 33 that is in axial alignment with opening 28. This projection has its outer surface threaded so as to cooperate withv the inner threaded surface of a cap 34. A needle 35 is attached to the upper end of the crosshead and positioned inl axial alignment with the arifice opening 32. A rod 36 is rotatably connected with the lower end of the crosshead and extends outwardly through the opening in the projection 33 and has its outer end soldered or otherwise connected to the cap 34. A short length of pipe 31 connects the interior of the burner body with the interior of the carbide container 4 and any gas generated in the latter will therefore flow upwardly through pipe 31 into the interior ofthe body member and this gas will normally escape through the orice opening 32. When the carbide gas escapes it can be ignited by a match or by a pyroforic metal lighter permanently attached to the reector. This lighter has not been shown as it forms no part of this invention. When the parts are in the position shown in Figure 1 and water is supplied to the carbide, acetylene gas will be generated and this gas will ow into the burner body and through the orice 32 as explained.

After some time the orifice will clog, due to the accumulation of soot, and when this occurs the operator merely unscrews the cap 34 and exerts an outward pull on the rod 3B whereby the crosshead with its attached needle will move towards the right and project entirely through the orice opening 32, thereby removing the soot that has accumulated therein. The crosshead and needle are then returned and the cap screwed onto the projection, whereupon the parts are ready for further use and the gas can now be ignited and the lamp will function until further accumulation of soot clogs the opening.

It is, of course, evident that the burner body can be constructed in specically different ways and the exact construction illustrated must therefore not be considered as a limitation. The

principal features of the construction are the combination of a burner body having a chamber of considerable length extending in the direction of the axis of the burner orifice and in which chamber a crosshead is positioned and guided by the walls of the chamber. A needle positioned in alignment with the orifice opening is carried by one end of the crosshead and a rod aligned with the other projection is rotatably connected with the other end of the crosshead and has attached to its outer end a cap or plug by means of which the opening can be sealed to prevent escape of gas during operation.

From the above description it will be apparent that by a simple modification of the present acetylene miners lamps, the latter can be readily cleaned by the user without the usual trouble of inserting a fine wire or needle through the orifice opening and that this cleaning operation can be effected in total darkness as well as in a well lighted room.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

l. An acetylene gas burner, comprising in combination, a hollow member having three openings two of which are parallel, a gas orifice tip secured in one parallel opening, a gas supply pipe secured in yanother opening, a rod slidaby mounted in the other parallel opening, a crosshead positioned in the hollow member, the inner end of the rod being attached to one end of the crosshead, and a needle attached to the other endv thereof the needle Aand the rod being substantially parallel, the needle being in axial alignment with the gas orifice whereby when the crosshead is moved in the direction of the orice, by means of a force exerted thereon by the rod, the needle will be projected through the orifice and clean the saine.

2. An acetylene gas burner, comprising in combination, a hollow member having one side provided with a pair of spaced openings, a gas orice tip secured in one of the openings, a crosshead positioned in the chamber in the hollow member, means for guiding the crosshead, a needle secured to one end of the crosshead in axial alignment with the orifice opening, a rod secured to the crosshead, said rod extending out through the other opening, and a threaded cap secured to the outer end of the rod the Cap being rotatable relative to the crosshead, the hollow member having a threaded nipple adapted to cooperate with the threads of the cap to hold the needle in inoperative position, the needle serving to clean the orifice when the crosshead is moved towards the outer end of. the hollow member.

3. An acetylene gas burner, comprising in combination, a hollow member having an elongated chamber of greater width than thickness, a crosshead positioned in the chamber, one end of the hollow member having a gas orifice and an opening spaced therefrom, a needle secured to one end of the crosshead and positioned in axial -alignment with the orifice, a rod having its inner end rotatably connected with the crosshead and its other end projecting through the other opening, the rod serving to move the crosshead and the needle towards and away from the orice, the opening through which the rod extends being surrounded by a threaded nipple, the outer end of the rod having secured thereto a threaded member adapted to cooperate with the threaded nipple to close the opening and hold the crosshead and the needle in retracted position.

4. An acetylene gas burner, comprising in combination, a hollow member having three openings, a gas orice tip securedin one opening, a gas supply pipe secured in another opening, a rod slidably mounted in the third opening, a

' crosshead positioned in the hollow member, the

inner end of the rod being attached to the one end of the crosshead, and a needle attached to the other end thereof, the needle and the rod being substantially parallel, the needle being in axial alignment with the gas orice whereby when the crosshead is moved in the direction of the orifice, by means of a force exerted thereon by the rod, the needle will be projected through the orifice and clean the same.

JOHN E. WILLIAMS. 

